When commenting on the significance of the two prize-winning projects, jury member Micahel Sorkin stated: "If there are lessons to be drawn for urban design from Medellín and Porto, I think the broader lesson has to do with the disruption of the segregation of the disciplines in the design field. Historically we have understood that Landscape Architecture sits in one place, Architecture in another, and Urban Design and Planning [in another, with all three disciplines] in constant conflict about their territorial rights. One of the things that is revolutionary about the Medellín project is that distinguishing among the disciplines is no longer possible."

Eduardo Souto de Moura’s Metro do Porto in Portugal, Courtesy of Harvard GSD

The Metro do Porto in Porto, Portugal, was designed by Architect Eduardo Souto de Moura, who conceptualized the architecture of the metro and facilitated the delivery of the project. The prize also acknowledges the central role of the transport authority Metro do Porto.

Eduardo Souto de Moura’s Metro do Porto in Portugal, Courtesy of Harvard GSD

The Northeastern Urban Integration Project in Medellín, Colombia, was sponsored by the City of Medellín, which receives the award for its vision and ongoing support of this project. The prize also acknowledges the design leadership of ArchitectAlejandro Echeverriand the role of the agency Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (EDU) in the design, management, and execution of the project.

By awarding the prize to these two projects, the jury wishes to highlight the potential for thoughtfully planned and carefully executed mobility infrastructures to transform a city and its region. The extent to which these projects deploy new infrastructures to repair and regenerate the city through well- articulated design interventions is particularly valuable within the global context of contemporary urbanization.

The two works create opportunities for mobility that go beyond physical movement to advance social mobility and reinvigorate civic space. Placing these two highly successful yet vastly different projects within the same conceptual frame also highlights the diverse economic, political, cultural, and logistical challenges that each has surmounted.

Each project, currently on view at the GSD’s exhibition Transformative Mobilities: Porto & Medellínthrough October 13th, will be honored in a ceremony and panel discussion with Rahul Mehrotra, Professor and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, on Tuesday, September 3, 2013, at 6:30 p.m. in Piper Auditorium at the GSD. More information can be found here.

The 2013 Jury:

Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, Harvard GSD